Fortune and Glory (Stephanie Plum, #27)(58)

“I’m having a late lunch,” I said to Potts. “Do you want something to eat?”

“No thanks. I had a gluten-free granola bar a little while ago.”

“Beer?”

“There’s gluten in beer.”

I made myself a peanut butter sandwich on bread that had extra gluten added to it. I gave a little piece to Rex and I cracked open a beer. I put the television on for Potts and I took the sandwich and beer into the bathroom with me.

My hair was singed on one side, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I showered and did the whole glam hair thing. I got dressed in my old jeans and T-shirt and felt pretty good. Benny had died but Grandma and Potts were okay. And truth is, Benny’s death was sad and unfortunate, but wasn’t unexpected.

I went to the living room to check on Potts and Ranger called.

“Tank talked to the bartender at the Mole Hole,” Ranger said. “The chairs went to a consignment store. We’re tracking them down. Tank also found out that Shine brought in more soldiers. Supposedly some very bad guys. So be careful. Your Honda has been detailed and is parked in your lot.”

“Now what?” Potts asked when I pocketed my phone.

“Now we go to the office.”

I was vigilant leaving my apartment and getting into the Honda. I drove to the office with an eye on my rearview mirror. I parked directly in front of the large plate-glass office window, and I could see Connie and Lula look out when I pulled to the curb.

“If you didn’t show up in the next ten minutes, I was going to call you,” Connie said when we walked in. “I heard about Benny. They’re saying it was a heart attack.”

“Grandma and I were with him when it happened,” I said. “The house was jammed with people and he was hiding in his den. He said he didn’t feel well and then he was gone.”

“Mom and I went to the service,” Connie said, “but we passed on the burial and the reception. I knew the reception would be impossible in his house.”

“Did you hear about the fire at the funeral?”

“Fire at the funeral?” Lula asked. “What fire? What did I miss?”

“Grandma and I were in the car line leaving the grave site and we saw Salgusta hanging out by the Rigollini plot. We took off after him, and he caught us with the flamethrower, setting the car on fire. The good part is that Ranger ran him down and turned him over to the police, so he’s off the street. One less crazy killer to worry about.”

“That leaves Shine,” Lula said. “Crazy in his own way.”

“For his entire adult life, Shine’s made money and stayed out of jail by intimidating people and making them disappear,” I said. “He has no reason to believe it won’t work now.”

“Yeah, but your Honda is at the curb,” Lula said. “What about the car fire?”

“We were in Ranger’s Porsche.”

“If I had a quarter for every Ranger car you destroyed, I’d be rich,” Lula said.

Connie turned her attention to the front window. “We have company,” she said.

We went to the window and looked out. The black Mercedes sports car was parked behind mine. It pulled into traffic and drove away when we went to the window.

“Gabriela again,” I said.

“I see her in your parking lot sometimes,” Potts said. “One time I asked her what she was doing there, and she said she was hanging out. That it was a quiet place to think.”

“Did she say anything else?” I asked him.

“She wanted to know what I was doing there, and I told her about you and how I was protecting you.”

“And?”

“She said she thought that was wonderful and that I was heroic.”

“Did she ever have anyone with her?” Connie asked.

“No,” Potts said. “She’s always alone.”

“Did you happen to notice her handbag? Was it Fendi?” Lula asked Potts.

“I didn’t notice,” Potts said. “One time she had a gun laying out on the passenger seat. It was partly hidden by a laptop, but I could still see it.”

“And she has no history?” I asked Connie.

“None that I can find,” Connie said. “All we have is Gabriela. No last name. I ran the plate on the Mercedes but didn’t come up with much. It’s a New York plate registered to an LLC that has no history. No corporate officers listed. I’m sure the information can be found somewhere, but my search programs aren’t designed to go there.”

I could probably get her last name from Morelli, but I had to be careful how I went about it. I didn’t want to embarrass myself by admitting I was spying on him.

I placed the call and got a stomach flutter when he answered. “Hey,” I said.

“Where are you?”

“At the office.”

“You rushed out of Benny’s house before I had a chance to reconnect with you,” Morelli said.

“Ranger had a lead that we wanted to chase.”

“Speaking of Ranger, he turned Salgusta over to Manny Bartok, one of the other cops on the scene, and Manny said Salgusta didn’t have a wallet or keys on him. I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”

“Maybe they fell out of his pocket when Ranger took him down. Did Manny look around for them?”